Reports of MPs sending in letters of no confidence in Boris Johnson are just "Westminster tittle tattle", the deputy prime minister has said.
Backbenchers have told The Telegraph that some disgruntled colleagues have submitted no confidence letters to the 1922 committee. If 15 per cent of sitting Conservative MPs submit them, a leadership contest is triggered. It comes as rumours of a rift between Rishi Sunak and Mr Johnson resurface.
However the Prime Minister's sizeable majority means upwards of 50 would have to be sent in before a leadership challenge could take place.
Asked about this today, Dominic Raab told LBC radio: "There is the usual Westminster tittle tattle and I'm not aware of that."
One former minister told The Telegraph he believed the risk was "overblown", but another said it was "significant", noting: "It hasn't been a story until now.
One senior Conservative source said it was "a ruse".
He added: "It's never enough... letters go in and out all the time under every leader. There is no existential threat."
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Dominic Raab has hit out at criticism of Boris Johnson's widely-criticised speech to the CBI, saying the Prime Minister does not "rigidly" stick to the usual rules.
"I know what the Prime Minister is like," the deputy prime minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"It sounds to me like the Prime Minister is not strictly sticking rigidly to the scripted way that politicians of the past have done. He's known for being a great communicator."
Mr Raab dismissed reaction to the speech as a distraction, and insisted that MPs were "focused on us delivering, and that's what the PM is absolutely focused on".
The deputy prime minister has insisted the Government is working "as a team", as he played down talk of a rift between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak.
Relations between the two men are said to have soured once again, with reports suggesting the Chancellor's team may have been behind some of the negative briefings towards the Prime Minister in recent days.
But Dominic Raab told BBC Breakfast Mr Johnson is "on great form" and the Cabinet was fully behind him.
Speaking to Times Radio Mr Raab insisted "the Chancellor is focused on the economic plan".
One source suggested there was "creative tension" between the two men "but they know they need each other", although conceded "people around Rishi may stir".
Westminster figures are playing down the threat that letters of no confidence represent towards the Prime Minister, despite Tory MPs saying some have been sent in.
The 1922 committee, made up of Tory backbenchers, collects any no confidence letters. If 15 per cent of sitting Conservative MPs submit them, a leadership contest is triggered. But with Boris Johnson's sizeable majority, upwards of 50 would have to go in.
One former minister suggested the risk was "overblown", while a senior Conservative source said it was "a ruse".
He added: "It's never enough... letters go in and out all the time under every leader.
"There is no existential threat."
“Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me,” Boris Johnson pleaded with business leaders as he lost his place during his keynote speech at the CBI conference on Monday.
The response was an awkward silence. But many in the audience – and those watching the live television images at home – will have been thinking that the time for the Prime Minister to ask for forgiveness has long since passed.
Speeches given by prime ministers to business leaders are normally dry affairs, reported in worthy – if dull – news reports.
When politicians are openly ridiculed like this on primetime television, it is time to worry. And plenty of Conservatives are now openly doing just that.
Read our inside story here.
Dominic Raab has said he 'ignores' speeches given by the leader of the opposition because Labour is not "credible".
The deputy prime minister was defending Boris Johnson's "ebullient" speech to the Confederation of British Industry, which has been widely criticised - including a pastiche by I'm a Celebrity presenters Ant and Dec.
Asked what he would be saying if Keir Starmer or Nicola Sturgeon had given a similar speech, the minister told BBC Breakfast: "I ignore Keir Starmer every day of the week because they don't have anything credible to say."
He added: "[The Prime Minister] livens up his speeches in way that few prime ministers, past and present, have done."
Dominic Raab said he has "a lot of sympathy" for Labour's Stella Creasy after she was told not to bring her baby into the Commons, but said the decision is for the House authorities to make.
The deputy prime minister told BBC Breakfast: "I've seen her with her young child, I've seen many other MPs on all sides of the House balancing this, and it's difficult. I think we do need to make sure our profession is brought into the modern world, the 21st century, and can allow parents to juggle the jobs they do with the family time that they need."
He said he is a "sucker for young kids" and he would not be bothered giving a speech at the despatch box in their presence, adding: "When you see your colleagues with their children, given the rough and tumble of politics, I just always think it brings out the best in people.
"Whether it's the right thing in the chamber, there will be different views on that, it will be for the House authorities to decide but it certainly wouldn't distract me or get in the way of me doing my job."
Dominic Raab has dismissed suggestions Tory backbenchers were writing letters to the chair of the 1922 Committee to demand a leadership challenge.
One Tory whip told The Telegraph it was now an "assumption" that some disgruntled MPs had submitted no confidence letters to the 1922 committee.
A second Tory MP said several of the "usual suspects" were believed to have lost confidence in Mr Johnson and submitted letters.
The deputy prime minister told LBC radio: "There is the usual Westminster tittle tattle and I'm not aware of that."
Read more on that story here
Dominic Raab has defended the decision to effectively erase the distinction between manslaughter and murder, saying killing an emergency worker "shows a level of malevolence, of severity, that does require a mandatory life sentence".
The Justice Secretary suggested Harpers' Law was critical to post-pandemic recovery that the justice system was "firm and fair", noting there have been 10,000 convictions for assault against emergency workers
He told Times Radio: "We want those emergency services to know we have got their back."
Talks on Northern Ireland Protocol will “probably” continue into next year, European Commission Vice President Maro？ ？ef？ovi？ has warned.
He told Politico he had been “probably too ambitious” when previously stating that discussions on customs and food checks or the role of the ECJ could be wrapped up before Christmas but he suggested it could still be agreed if the UK compromised.
“I think that if there was the clear political will from the UK side these … problems could be solved,” he said. “But looking at how far we progressed over the last four weeks, the level of detail our U.K. partners want to discuss, I know that we will probably not be able to resolve everything before the end of the year.”
Sefcovic is meeting Lord Frost again this week after the pair agreed to "intensify" talks in the hope of a breakthrough on medicines trade. He said he was still hopeful of “decisive progress this week”, but this is the de-facto deadline for reaching a deal, because the EU will need time to implement any potential solution.
The British Army is to leave Canada after 50 years, with its biggest training base set to move to the Middle East.
The British Army Training Unit Suffield (Batus) in Alberta, western Canada, has been in operation since 1972, training thousands of British soldiers in live firing exercises.
More than 1,000 vehicles, including tanks and helicopters, are regularly used by regiments for weeks at a time at the 2,700 kilometre-square base, seven times the size of Salisbury Plain.
However, Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, is expected to announce later this week that plans to modernise the Army will include developing a training area in Oman.
Boris Johnson will go toe-to-toe with Sir Keir Starmer in his first time speaking publicly since Monday's widely-derided speech to the Confederation of British Industry.
The Prime Minister is facing a slew of bad headlines - but will the Labour leader be able to get the upper hand?
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